Foot valve



J. R. REISE Dec. 17, 1968 FOOT VALVE Filed Jan. 25, 1966 w m B W 8 U v a F/I/I/I/ l///l////////n///////f// J v v I Z I I l I v i r//////7/////sw///////////// n 1 6 w 2 w F 3 4 B m F F l 5 n l V A a ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,416,565 FOOT VALVE John R. Reise, RR. 2, Kelly Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada Filed Jan. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 522,917 1 Claim. (Cl. 137-549) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A foot valve, suitable for domestic water services and adapted to be mounted on the lower end of a well pipe. The valve has a sediment compartment located below the level of the valve in which foreign particles may collect without in any way impairing the perfect functioning of the valve. The valves is in the form of a ball normally nesting in a tapered or knife-edge seat that provides no resting place for sand or other foreign particles that just naturally shed from its rim. The seat for the ball valve is self-cleansing.

This invention relates to improvements in a foot valve and appertains particularly to one especially suitable for domestic water services and the like, being adapted to be mounted on the lower end of a well pipe.

Most conventional foot valves employ a mushroomtype valve having a circular or disk-like head and an axial stern which not infrequently tend to foul up as sand, silt or other sediment lodges on the seat under the valve. This necessitates the troublesome and costly job of pulling the whole length of well pipe to clean the valve.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a foot valve having a sediment compartment located below the level of the valve in which foreign particles may collect without in any way impairing the perfect functioning of the valve.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved foot valve in which the check valve is in the form of a ball normally nesting in a tapered or knifeedge seat that provides no resting place for sand or other foreign particles that just naturally shed from its rim.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved foot valve, with a self-cleaning valve seat and a sediment receptacle of substantial capacity located well below the level of the valve to give years of carefree service", that may be easily assembled and secured on a length of standard size well pipe.

To the accomplishment of these and related objects as shall become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

The invention will be best understood and can be more clearly described when reference is bad to the drawings forming a part of this disclosure wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of an embodiment of my improved self-cleaning foot valve attached on the end of a well pipe;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section thereof;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are horizontal sections as taken on line 3-3 and 4-4 respectively, of FIGURE 1.

The foot valve as shown herein includes a body member 5 of hollow cylindrical or barrel-like form, providing an interior compartment or chamber 6. In its upper end is an interiorly threaded bore 7 atfording communication with the chamber 6 and in the bottom of the body 5, opposite and coaxial with the bore 7 is another threaded bore 8 of substantially smaller diameter.

3,416,565 Patented Dec. 17, 1968 An inwardly tapering inverted bail 9 that is preferably integral with the body 5 depends from its underside, having a horizontal crossbar 10 at the bottom that is provided with an internally threaded bore 11. A cylindrical screen 12, substantially coextensive with the body 5 fits in a shoulder step 13 on the lower rim of the said body and envelops the bail 9, being releasably secured in position by a screw 14 passing centrally through a flanged screen cover plate 15 and threading in the bore 11 in bail 9.

In the smaller diameter threaded bore 8, the enlarged base 16 of a stand tube 17 that acts as the intake pipe is secured, the tube extending in the direction of the larger bore 7 and according to the present illustrated embodiment passing across the chamber 6 and rising concentrically through the bore 7. A knife edge capshaped ball valve seat 18 is threadedly attached to the top open end of the tube, being preferably formed with an inturned tapered edge. A ball valve 19 normally rests on and closes the valve seat 18 under pressure of a coil spring 20 compressed between said ball and an enveloping cage 21 carried by the valve seat 18. In use, the foot valve is connected to the lower threaded end of a length of standard size well pipe 22 that is received in the threaded bore 7. Referring particularly to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that water from a well is drawn through screen 12 into the open lower end of the intake tube 17 and emerges through the ball valve seat 18 and thence passes upwardly in the well pipe 22. It will also be noted that there is a sizeable concentric passageway 23 between the exterior of the tube 17 and the interior of the well pipe 22, because of the substantial difference in their respective diameters, that communicates with the c0mpartment 6 in the valve body 5.

If any sand, silt or other sedimentary foreign matter should enter through the intake guard screen 12 and be drawn into the valve, it cannot lodge on the tapered knife edge seat 18 but must fall down the passage 23 into the chamber 6. Only after long and extensive use could the chamber and passageway fill up with sufiicient accumulation of sediment to impede the proper functioning of the valve and require the pulling of the well pipe to clean the foot valve.

The capacity of the chamber 6 can itself be increased by extending the length of the cylindrical body 5 or the sediment trap capacity of the combined concentric passageway 23 and the chamber 6 can be enlarged by lengthening the tube 17 as desired. In the former case, the ball valve could be contained within the hollow body 5 while in the latter case the upper end of the tube 17 would extend well up into the well pipe 22, as shown in the present embodiment. In either case, the sediment compartment or well is located substantially below the level of the valve.

Sometimes it will be found best to form the parts of this foot valve from brass or comparable noncorrosive metal and to coat the compression helical spring 20 and ball 19 with rubber or the like, but molded synthetic material and plastic components may be substituted where suitable.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be manifest that a foot valve is provided that will fulfill all the necessary requirements of such a device, but as many changes could be made in the above description and many apparently widely different embodiments of the invention may be constructed within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matters contained in the said accompanying specification and drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitative or restrictive sense.

I claim:

1. A valve of the kind described comprising a hollow cylindrical body member having an internal enlargement larger than the main portion of the body member at its top end, said enlargement having an internally screw threaded bore, an internal enlargement larger than the main portion of the body member at its bottom end, said latter enlargement having an internally screw threaded bore, said bores being in alignment, an upright stand tube having a bottom enlarged externally screw threaded end, larger than the main body of the tube, threaded into the bore in the enlargement at the bottom, the internally screw threaded bore at the top being adapted to threadedly receive the bottom threaded end of a well pipe, said stand tube being open at both ends, with external threads at its top end, and extending in the direction of the top bore, a valve seat on the top open end of the stand tube, a spring pressed ball valve on said seat, said tube and surrounding casing defining therebetween a sediment well located substantially below the level of said ball valve, a removable screen surrounding the lower intake end of said tube, a cover plate on the outer free end of the screen, an inverted inwardly tapering bail depending integrally from the bottom end of said bottom enlargement, and a headed screw removably carried by said bail coacting with the cover plate on the screen for holding the screen in position on the body member.

References Cited 10 UNITED STATES PATENTS 783,493 2/1905 Wood 137533.13 XR 1,025,977 5/1912 Henderson 103229 1,451,676 4/1923 Berlien 103220 1,784,050 12/1930 Fortinberry 103220 2,103,673 12/1937 Hoferer 137 s39.5 2,107,704 2/1938 Kronquest 137539 2,369,939 2/1945 Betts 103229 2,913,995 11/1959 Brenner 137549 XR 20 HENRY T. KLINKSIEK, Primary Examiner. 

